Day 6 of Mobilization – March 13th "Women and Economy"

Contributed by AWEPON

There is no doubt that some achievements have been noted compared to 15 years ago when the BPfA was launched. However, several statistics still show that women contribute more than they reap from the economy. Statistically, numbers show that in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), women still perform 80% of all agricultural labor in subsistence and cash crop agriculture and account for 60-80 percent of food production. In addition, women carry heavy and disproportionate domestic workload. Women work in the garden and take care of the kids - and not just one or two kids but five or six - and they still have to harvest and plant the food, cook the food, fetch the water and firewood, take care of sick kids, etc.

In spite of these contributions, however, both as economic agents and as keepers of family, women are still in a disadvantaged position in terms of education and training, control over productive resources, access agricultural inputs, extension services and credit. Women earn less than men and are still largely employed in sectors that pay comparatively less. Moreover, women’s labor in providing care and domestic services is not taken into account in national economy.

Biblical teachings ground economic analysis within the household economy. A good economist is a good steward and is therefore one “…who is faithful and [a] wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season.” Luke 12: 42. Economic analysis should therefore start at the household. This is where the economy is experienced, lived and where benefits or deprivation is most felt.

I would like to believe that both men and women are equal, contrary to the biblical notion that “A good wife is one who does all the work, maintains the family and eventually hands over all proceeds from her efforts to her husband who sits at the gate among the elders (men of course) of the land”. Women’s benefits from the economy should be proportional to their inputs. 15 years after Beijing, this is still a dream! Let us demand our fair share of the proceeds from our economies.

Contributed by FTF member Daisy Owomugasho, Coordinator, AWEPON

The African Women’s Economic Policy Network (AWEPON) is a Pan- African faith-based non Governmental Organization (NGO) with the regional secretariat legally registered in Uganda. AWEPON works towards achieving economic justice, and seeks to strengthen the capacity of women especially at the grass roots and national levels to influence the shape of economic policies. Visit us at www.awepon.net

Take action

Stay engaged! Attend or follow the upcoming Financing for Development meetings at the UN

Special high-level meeting of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the UN Conference on Trade and Development
Date:  March 18-19, 2010
Venue:  UN Headquarters, New York

Overall theme will be “Building on Monterrey and Doha: towards achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.” Following a short opening plenary, with brief statements by relevant intergovernmental representatives, the meeting will consist of three consecutive informal thematic debates, as follows:

• Thematic debate 1: “Mobilizing domestic and international resources to fund existing and emerging MDG implementation gaps”;
• Thematic debate 2: “Supporting rehabilitation, recovery and development efforts of developing countries with special needs and those facing humanitarian emergency situations”;
• Thematic debate 3: “Enhancing coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems in support of development”.

The meeting will result in a summary by the President of ECOSOC as a substantive input to the preparation of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on MDGs (New York, 20-22 September 2010).

Side Event to the aforementioned meeting

Financial Transaction Taxes:  Assessing their role in Financing for Development and the International Financial Architecture reform agenda
Date: March 18, 2010 Time:  1:15 – 2:45pm
Venue: UN Headquarters, TNLB Conference Room B

High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development (re-scheduled meeting from October 2009)
Date:  March 23-24, 2010
Venue:  UN Headquarters, New York

Theme “The Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration on Financing for Development: status of implementation and tasks ahead”. First day: Plenary meetings; second day: three interactive multi-stakeholder round tables followed by an informal interactive dialogue.

• Round table 1: “The reform of the international monetary and financial system and its implications for development”;
• Round table 2: “The impact of the current financial and economic crisis on foreign direct investment and other private flows, external debt and international trade”
• Round table 3: “The role of financial and technical development cooperation, including innovative sources of development finance, in leveraging the mobilization of domestic and international financial resources for development”;
• Informal interactive dialogue: “The link between financing for development and achieving the Millennium Development Goals: the road to the 2010 high-level event”.

If you registered for the original dates, you do not need to register again. For more information on the two events please visit: www.ffdngo.org

TODAY at the UN CSW - New York, UN Headquarters

Read about the final day of CSW negotiations and adoption of various resolutions:
www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/wom1792.doc.htm

Flashback

During the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 1995, an international network of women formed the "Women's Eyes on the World Bank Campaign" to monitor the World Bank's performance and to place women as essential actors within the World Bank machinery. With two of the campaign’s objectives in mind –1) increasing the participation of grassroots women in the Bank's economic policy-making and 2) institutionalizing a gender perspective in Bank policies and programs--, members of the campaign have been successful in pressuring the World Bank to establish a gender unit within its Latin America programmes. The Coordinator of the "Women's Eyes/ Latin America Campaign" (Laura Frade), keeps tabs on 12 World Bank projects in Latin America that deal with health, education, environment and social development.

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Feminist Task Force GCAP e-Campaign – 12 Days of Action on the 12 Critical Areas of Concern Mobilization March 8 – 19th

Commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW),  held in Beijing in 1995, and coinciding with the 54th UN CSW in New York, the e-Campaign will run 12 days from March 8–19th, each day highlighting one critical area of concern, beginning with Women & Poverty, and including Education, Health, Violence Against Women, Armed Conflict, Economy, Decision-Making, Institutional Mechanisms, Human Rights, Media, the Environment and ending with the Girl Child.

To be added to our English or Spanish list serves, please write to <FeministTaskForce[at]gmail.com>

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